Baseball bat

ABSTRACT

A baseball bat includes a body, a holding area formed at one end of the body and a hitting area formed on the other end of the body. An elongated annular recess is defined in the hitting area and an elastic tube is securely mounted on the body to enclose the elongated annular recess so that the elastic tube is suspended on top of the elongated annular recess and provides a recovery ability to the elastic tube after being impacted by a baseball.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a baseball bat, and in particular to a baseball bat having a elongated recess defined in a outer periphery of the hitting area and an elastic tube mounted on the hitting area to enclose an area defined by the elongated recess such that when a ball coming directly to the hitting area, deformation in the plastic tube absorbs the impact of the ball and provides a delay to the ball to allow the ball to have a steady trajectory flying away from the bat. Further, the impact of the ball is largely saved by the deformation of the plastic tube so that when the bat is swinging, the impact of the flying ball will be released and the traveling distance of the ball is increased.

2. The Prior Arts

The currently know bat structure 1 is shown in FIG. 9, which includes a holding area 1A and a hitting area 1B integrally formed with the holding area 1A and having a gradually increased diameter. The material for the bat structure may be selected from wood, aluminum and carbon fiber. Whatever the material for the bat may be and whether the bat is hollow or solid inside the hitting area 1B, the holding area 1A and the hitting area 1B are formed together into a rigid body. When a baseball 2 is pitched at an average speed from 80˜90 km/hr or even at a speed from 110˜130 km/hr and collides with the hitting area 1B of the bat, the baseball 2 is deformed laterally (the shape of the baseball is changed from 2A to 2B). When the baseball 2 is deformed, the impact of the baseball 2 to the bat is largely decreased. Therefore, when a batter is hitting the baseball 2, the hitting strength will be limited due to the deformation of the baseball 2. In addition, the flying trajectory (as shown in the dashed lines) of the baseball 2 away from the bat in unpredictable. That is, often the baseball 2 will not fly toward the direction as the batter wished.

Therefore, it is noted that the conventional bat can not fully demonstrate the power of the batter. It diminishes the batting power due to the deformation of the baseball caused by the bat structure.

In order to overcome the shortcoming of the conventional bat, the present invention tends to provide an improved bat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide an improved bat to save the impact from the flying baseball so that when the bat hits the baseball, the traveling distance is increased.

The solution of the present invention is that the bat has a elongated recess defined in the hitting area and a tube surrounding the elongated recess to close an area defined by the elongated recess such that when the flying baseball impacts the tube, deformation of the tube saves the impact power and then the impact power of the baseball is later added to the hitting power to increase the traveling distance of the baseball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the bat of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the bat of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is perspective view of the bat of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross sectional view of another embodiment of the bat of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross sectional view of still another embodiment of the bat of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross sectional view of a further embodiment of the bat of the present invention;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic views showing the bat before and after deformation due to the impact of the bat;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the deviation of the baseball caused by the conventional bat structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the baseball bat in accordance with the present invention includes a body 10 and an elastic tube 20.

The body 10 is substantially a conical body and includes a holding area 11 having a first diameter and a hitting area 12 integrally formed with the holding area 11 and having a second diameter larger than that of the first diameter. The body 10 is tapered down toward the holding area 11 from the hitting area 12 and further has an annular, elongated recess 14 defined in an outer periphery of the hitting area 12 and having a depth S, a core 13 formed on a bottom face defining the recess 14 and an annular shoulder 15 formed on both ends of the recess 14.

The elastic tube 20 has two openings respectively defined in two ends of the elastic tube 20 and has a predetermined thickness 21. The elastic tube 20 may be made of compound fiber such as fiber glass, metal or plastic and is securely engaged with the annular shoulders 15 of the body 10. When the elastic tube 20 is made of fiberglass, the thickness 21 is within the range of 0.04˜1 mm so as to have the best recovery ability after impact. When the elastic tube 20 is made of metal, the thickness 21 is within the range of 0.5˜1.6 mm and when the elastic tube 20 is made of plastic, the thickness 21 is within the range of 0.8˜2.5 mm to have the best recovery ability after impact.

The two ends 20A of the elastic tube are securely and respectively engaged with the two annular shoulders 15 of the body 10 so that the central portion 20B is suspended in the air and thus a predetermined distance is maintained between an inner face of the elastic tube 20 and the bottom face defining the recess 14. furthermore, in order to increase the beauty of the overall appearance of the baseball bat, a transparent film 22 is securely applied to an outer periphery of the hitting area 12.

When the bat of the present invention is in use, with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the instant when the hitting area 12 of the body 10 engages with the flying baseball 30, the impact force F of the flying baseball 30 is larger than a supporting force to the central portion 20B from the two annular shoulders 15, the central portion 20B is deformed toward the bottom face defining the recess 14 until the core 13, as shown in FIG. 7. On the contrary to the conventional structure, the elastic tube 20 functions as a buffer to receive most of the impact from the baseball 30 and to reduce the deformation of the baseball 30 such that the impact F of the baseball 30 is mostly reserved. As the deformation of the elastic tube 20 continues, the core 13 stops the deformation of the elastic tube 20, as shown in FIG. 8 so as to provide a delay to the baseball 30 on the body 10. Thus the body 10 has great shock absorbing effect and trajectory control. Further, the impact force F of the baseball 30, which is saved by the deformation of the elastic tube 20 will be added to the hitting force P to generate a multiply-effect to the baseball 30 and thus the traveling distance of the baseball 30 is increased.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4, which includes a body 10 and an elastic tube 20. Multiple elastic rings 16 made of an elastic material are provided around two ends of the core 13 respectively so that the elastic tube 20 is supported by the elastic rings 16 and the shock by the baseball to the body 10 is largely reduced by the elastic rings 16. Thus the batter will have better grasp to the bat of the present invention. In addition, FIG. 5 shows that multiple elastic rings 16 are intermittently mounted around the core 13 to increase the shock absorbing effect to the bat of the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 6, the bat of the present invention also has a body 10 and an elastic tube 20 integrally formed with the body 10. The core 13 is now hollow. A bottom face defining the recess 14 has a thickness t which is larger than the thickness of the elastic tube 20. Preferably the thickness t is 2 mm. A depth S of the recess 14 is 1.2 mm to have the best recovery ability after impact from the baseball.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims. 

1. A baseball bat comprising a body, a holding area formed at one end of the body and a hitting area formed on the other end of the body, wherein the improvement comprises: an elongated annular recess is adapted to be defined in the hitting area and an elastic tube is securely mounted on the body to enclose the elongated annular recess so that the elastic tube is suspended on top of the elongated annular recess and provides a recovery ability to the elastic tube after being impacted by a baseball.
 2. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongated annular recess has a depth at the range between 3˜20 mm.
 3. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 1, wherein two annular shoulders are respectively formed on two ends of the elongated annular recess to engage with two ends of the elastic tube.
 4. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 2, wherein two annular shoulders are respectively formed on two ends of the elongated annular recess to engage with two ends of the elastic tube.
 5. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elastic tube is made of fiberglass and has a thickness at the range between 0.04˜1 mm.
 6. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 4, wherein the elastic tube is made of fiberglass and has a thickness at the range between 0.04˜1 mm.
 7. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elastic tube is made of metal and has a thickness at the range between 0.5˜1.6 mm.
 8. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 4, wherein the elastic tube is made of metal and has a thickness at the range between 0.5˜1.6 mm.
 9. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elastic tube is made of plastic and has a thickness at the range between 0.8˜2.5 mm.
 10. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 4, wherein the elastic tube is made of plastic and has a thickness at the range between 0.8˜2.5 mm.
 11. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a core formed on a bottom face defining the elongated annular recess and multiple elastic rings mounted around the core to securely engage with the elastic tube to reduce an impact force from the baseball.
 12. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a core formed on a bottom face defining the elongated annular recess and multiple elastic rings mounted around the core to securely engage with the elastic tube to reduce an impact force from the baseball.
 13. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a core formed on a bottom face defining the elongated annular recess and multiple elastic rings mounted around the core to securely engage with the elastic tube to reduce an impact force from the baseball.
 14. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 4 further comprising a core formed on a bottom face defining the elongated annular recess and multiple elastic rings mounted around the core to securely engage with the elastic tube to reduce an impact force from the baseball.
 15. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 5 further comprising a core formed on a bottom face defining the elongated annular recess and multiple elastic rings mounted around the core to securely engage with the elastic tube to reduce an impact force from the baseball.
 16. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 6 further comprising a core formed on a bottom face defining the elongated annular recess and multiple elastic rings mounted around the core to securely engage with the elastic tube to reduce an impact force from the baseball.
 17. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 7 further comprising a core formed on a bottom face defining the elongated annular recess and multiple elastic rings mounted around the core to securely engage with the elastic tube to reduce an impact force from the baseball.
 18. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic tube is integrally formed with the body.
 19. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 18, wherein the body has a hollow core formed on a bottom face defining the recess and having a thickness larger than a thickness of the elastic tube.
 20. The baseball bat as claimed in claim 1, wherein a transparent film is adapted to be mounted around the hitting area. 